Police and family say Cuauhtemoc Estrada was at a family holiday party at a Bellwood, Ill. VFW when he reportedly saw two men in ski masks trying to rob his daughter and her boyfriend at gunpoint in the parking lot around 7:30 p.m., the Tribune reports.

Though divorced, the Tribune reports Estrada remained close with his ex-wife and family, living on the same street and often "starting cars of family on his block" and delivering coffee and donuts in the morning. Estrada's former sister-in-law, Patty Santamaria, told the Tribune Estrada spent his life protecting "not just his own family but his entire community. He fought hard to clean up his own streets."